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A dusting of snow covered many of the airframes stored by the 309th AMARG at Davis-Monthan AFB in early January. We share a selection of images captured by personnel of the 309th AMARG early that morning. (photo via 309th AMARG)
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There was a snowfall during early January in the normally arid desert outside Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona. As many will know, this is where the U.S. Air Force’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), stores, maintains or regenerates military aircraft currently surplus to requirements. There are more than four thousand airframes housed in the open air on the several thousand acres of land which ‘The Boneyard’ occupies, so naturally it is a fascinating place for any aviation enthusiast, and one ripe with extraordinary photographic opportunities at that…. but this only rarely includes snow-covered subjects. That is why we thought these beautiful images which the 309th AMARG posted on their official Facebook page would be of interest to our readers….
A North American Rockwell B-1B Lancer bomber sitting stripped and rather forlorn in a row of other retired ‘Bones’ at AMARG. The dusting of snow is quite evident on her upper fuselage behind the cockpit. This example is 85-0092, which last served with the 128th BS/116th BW in the Georgia Air National Guard at Robins AFB in Warner Robins, Georgia. Nicknamed ‘Apocalypse’ this particular airframe was retired to AMARG (then known as AMARC) in late 2002 when the US Air Force drew down their B-1 fleet from 92 to 60 examples. Like many of the other B-1s at AMARG, this bomber has sacrificed a lot of its components to allow the active fleet to keep flying. (photo via 309th AMARG)
Although the U.S. Air Force retired their entire fleet of Cessna T-37 Tweet advanced jet trainers (seen here in the foreground) during 2009, many of them linger on at Davis-Monthan, serving as a spare parts supply for a handful of nations which still operate small numbers of the type. (photo via 309th AMARG)
There are nearly sixty Lockheed C-5 Galaxy strategic air lifters at The Boneyard, although most of these could readily be returned to service should the need arise
. (photo via 309th AMARG)
B-52G 58-0165 sits on blocks in the foreground. She is one of several dozen G-models remaining at Davis-Monthan, although none of them will ever fly again, having had critical components deliberately sawn through to prevent it as part of a Nuclear Arms Treaty with Russia. The aircraft still is a source of spare parts for he active fleet though, which is why it lingers on in the Arizona desert. This airframe flew bombing missions over Viet Nam when it was based at Andersen AFB on Guam during 1972. She reportedly last served with the 379th Bomb Wing as ‘Rolling Thunder’, flying 25 missions during the first Gulf War. This BUFF arrived for storage in August, 1992. (photo via 309th AMARG)
While this unusual, snow-covered object at AMARG is actually one of the fabrication jigs used to form the fuselage on the Northrop B-2 Spirit bomber production line. It is not unusual for AMARG to store the jigs and even the tooling from aircraft production lines once they run dormant, just in case the lines need to re-open again. This was the case for the B-2, whose production ended after just 21 airframes (of the originally planned 132 examples) had been completed. (photo via 309th AMARG)
Snow and ice coat some of the cacti at Davis-Monthan AFB in early January. A KC-135 Stratotanker and a derelict Boeing 707 airliner sit in the disatance. (photo via 309th AMARG)
There are a surprising number of retired Boeing 707/720 airliners at AMARG. The military acquired these as a supply of surplus parts due to many critical components being common to other variants of the design such as the KC-135 Stratotanker. (photo via 309th AMARG)
There are two hundred and one Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo planes in storage with the 309th AMARG, plus an additional dozen AC-130 Spectre gunship variants and a lone WC-130. (photo via 309th AMARG)
A line of C-130 Hercules sit in the desert sun with snow-dusted mountains in the distance. The first Hercules in the line up is C-130H 81-0631 which last served with the 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB in Arkansas. She arrived in September, 2017. Behind this Herc’ is C-130H 82-0059 which also arrived in September 2017 after last serving with the 176th AW at Kulis Camp in Anchorage, Alaska. And finally, behind this airframe is another September 2017 arrival, C-130H 85-0035 which last flew with the 109th AW of the New York Air Guard.
(photo via 309th AMARG)
There are more than a hundred and fifty Lockheed P-3 Orions on the books with the 309th AMARG. The example in the foreground is P-3C Bu.158206 which wears a retro white-over-black paint scheme from her time serving as the assigned aircraft for Commander, Patrol Reconnaissance Wing 10 (CPRW-10) at NAS Whidbey Island. She received this 1960s era paint scheme as part of the celebrations for the Centenary of Naval Aviation in 2011. She arrived for storage at AMARG in 2013. (photo via 309th AMARG)
A lineup of Lockheed P-3 Orion sub-hunters. (photo via 309th AMARG)
A view of the snow covered mountains seen from under the wing of a C-5 Galaxy. Several rows of T-37s are visible in the distance. (photo via 309th AMARG)
A nice view of the snow-covered hills which look down on Davis-Monthan AFB. Some of the T-37 fleet sit in the foreground, although the snow seems to have sublimed from the airframes. (photo via 309th AMARG)
A lineup of well-preserved former US Marine Corps Bell AH-1W SuperCobras, including Bureau Numbers 163950, 165279, 162554, 160105, 165448, 162572,160799, 163938, 165330, 162557, 165393 and 165278. These are all relatively recent arrivals from 2018, but may well be refurbished in the near future for overseas sales. (photo via 309th AMARG)
Richard Mallory Allnutt's aviation passion ignited at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow. Raised in 1970s Britain, he was immersed in WWII aviation lore. Moving to Washington DC, he frequented the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, meeting aviation legends.
After grad school, Richard worked for Lockheed-Martin but stayed devoted to aviation, volunteering at museums and honing his photography skills. In 2013, he became the founding editor of Warbirds News, now Vintage Aviation News. With around 800 articles written, he focuses on supporting grassroots aviation groups.
Richard values the connections made in the aviation community and is proud to help grow Vintage Aviation News.
